The present disclosure may be embodied as an optical encoder system comprising a first optical sensor, a second optical sensor, a first up-down counter, a second up-down counter, and an I/O expander. The optical encoder system may further include a buffer. The present disclosure may also be embodied as an optical encoder system comprising an optical encoder, and a monostable multivibrator. The present disclosure may also be embodied as a method for encoding optical data comprising generating a first optical sensor signal and a second optical sensor signal, converting the first optical sensor signal and second optical sensor signal into four first counter signals, generating a borrow output signal and a carry output signal, converting the borrow output signal and the carry output signal into four second counter signals, and converting the first counter signals and second counter signals into a serial data signal and a serial clock signal.